Secrets
by hyperslinky
Summary: Rachel Black has been in love with Draco since the first time she saw him. When he finally asks her out, she feels like he is keeping something from her. (Okay, I suck at writing summaries... just check out the story...)
1. Reunion

It was the perfect day to have a party. The sun was shining brightly, and the clouds drifted across the sky carelessly. A few people found shelter from the hot sun under the many trees that filled the Hogwarts grounds. Under one of these lay a former Slytherin Rachel Black.  
  
Sitting up, she propped herself against the trunk of the tree and gazed over toward the quidditch field where she spied her roommate, Katie Morse, a former Ravenclaw. Rachel smiled as she made her way toward Katie.  
  
When she was about ten yards away, she opened her mouth to speak when all of a sudden, a tall, red-haired bit wearing Puddlemere United quidditch robes landed smoothly beside her, clutching his Firebolt OTF in his left hand. "Hi, Rachel," he said cheerfully. "I didn't scare you, did I?"  
  
Rachel forced a smile. "No, Oliver."  
  
Then, Oliver Wood's face became serious. "I need your help," he said, glancing over to where Katie stood talking to Luna Lovegood. "Can we talk?"  
  
Rachel looked at him curiously. "Er - s.s.sure."  
  
The two of them trudged to behind one of the quidditch stands.  
  
Oliver looked really nervous. "I - er - I."  
  
"Are you okay?" asked Rachel, looking at him oddly.  
  
Oliver nodded, clearing his throat. "You know that party we're having tonight?"  
  
Rachel nodded, confused. This couldn't be what he had wanted to talk to her privately about.  
  
"I - I'm going to propose to Katie tonight. Or. at least. I was hoping to. I just talked to Katie, and she said she might not stay for the party because she has to do some paperwork or something. so. could you please talk to her? Convince her? Something? I have the whole night set up. I've hired this special band to play and."  
  
"Don't worry, Oliver! I'll talk to her."  
  
Oliver grinned. "Thanks, Rachel. I knew I could count on you." And within a second, he had swung himself back onto his broom and zoomed off to rejoin the other former Hogwarts students who were playing quidditch.  
  
Rachel sighed. Katie had found her soulmate and was now going to marry him. She looked longingly at Draco Malfoy who was surrounded by Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson. Oh, how she loathed Pansy! After all, Draco was her soulmate. not that ugly Pansy girl's. Honestly, what did he see in her? Every time she saw Draco, Pansy was always with him. Draco had never done anything more than look at Rachel, but she was positive that somehow she would get Draco to recognize her.  
  
"Hey, Rei," said a voice behind her.  
  
Rachel jumped.  
  
"Boo!" said Katie as she stepped into view. "What're you doing over here?"  
  
"Oh, nothing," she muttered. "Wanna get something to eat?"  
  
"Sure," Katie replied, beaming.  
  
They strolled over toward the tables filled with food that stood near the castle's main entrance. When they got there, they were surprised to see Fred and George Weasley standing there, trying to look innocent.  
  
"Hello, Katie," George said, smiling.  
  
"So, why aren't you two at your store?" she asked, smiling.  
  
"Oh, we closed it for today," replied Fred, grinning. "Besides, everyone is here. It's the perfect time to - ow! What was that for, George?" he asked, looking angrily at his twin who had just elbowed him in the ribs. "O-o-o-o-oh!"  
  
"So, you didn't do anything to the food then, did you?" asked Rachel, trying hard not to laugh.  
  
"Of course not."  
  
"Now, honestly. Do you really think we would do something like that?"  
  
The four of them laughed as Colin Creevey stumbled in front of them, holding his very long tongue,  
  
"Ah, good ole-fashioned Ton-Tongue Toffee," said Fred with a smile.  
  
"Uh-oh!" said George when he saw Professor McGonagall hurrying towards them, stopping only for a moment to quickly reduce Colin's tongue back to its original size.  
  
"Mr. Weasleys! How many times must I tell you two not to bring those things here?"  
  
"Don't worry, Minerva," interrupted Dumbledore, who had just joined the group.  
  
McGonagall looked as though someone had just slapped her in the face. "But, Albus! Don't you think these two should be punished?"  
  
"Of course I do," Dumbledore replied calmly. "That is why I'm asking them to monitor all the people who eat one of their creations and to perform the counterspell on them. Now," he said leaning over to whisper in George's ear, "at exactly four o'clock I want you to sneak ten of every one of your creations up to my office. The password is Ton-Tongue Toffee. You'll find a bag of galleons sitting on a chair in the middle of the room. Leave the stuff there and take the bag."  
  
"Yes, Professor," George replied grinning. "We'll behave ourselves."  
  
Professor McGonagall looked at them oddly before walking off to join Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout.  
  
As George excitedly told Fred about what Dumbledore had said, Katie and Rachel shuffled down the rows of tables, filling their plates with food. Once full, they took their plates and sat down under one of the trees. Nibbling on the food, they watched as former classmates strolled past them - Ron Weasley, Harry Potter, Angelina Johnson, Lee Jordan.  
  
After awhile, they were joined by Hermione Granger. "So, Katie, what is it like writing for the Daily Prophet?"  
  
"Oh, it's great! So, what're you doing now?"  
  
Hermione beamed. "I'm a professor here, the new Charms teacher. It's my first year; Professor Flitwick just retired."  
  
"Oh, wow, congratulations," said Rachel, trying to sound enthusiastic. But her mind was elsewhere. On Draco, in fact. She was staring at him as he placed a strange piece of candy into his mouth. She recognized it at once as one of the Weasley Wizard's Wheezes. Now, was her perfect chance. Finally, Draco would pay attention to her and realize that they were meant to be together. Reaching in her robes, she pulled out her wand started to mutter the counterspell. But.agh!. she was too late. Professor Snape had already performed it.  
  
"Well, I better be going now," said Hermione as Oliver joined them,  
  
"Hi, honey," he said, leaning over to kiss Katie on the cheek.  
  
"So, who won the game?" she asked as she opened a humbug.  
  
Oliver beamed. "My team. You should've seen the one save I made where I."  
  
Rachel began to feel like it had just become very crowded. "I'm going to go get something to drink," she said, standing up and walking slowly back towards the tables. Halfway there, she spied Draco and Pansy talking in the distance near the Whomping Willow. Rachel looked around hopefully. "Perfect!" she thought when she saw Marcus Flint, quite near where Draco was standing. It was the perfect excuse. She would call out to Marcus and then "accidentally" run into Pansy as she "just-so-happened" to pull out her wand and mutter a curse. Rachel smirked as she waved at Marcus, calling out his name confidently.  
  
"Rachel, hi!" he said when he saw her.  
  
"Now or never," thought Rachel as she made her way towards him. All was going as planned. Then, it happened. She purposely bumped into Pansy as she muttered the Furnunculus Curse. Her work was done. Now, she would go over and talk to Flint for a moment and then wait for Draco to come.  
  
"So, Marcus, what's up?"  
  
"Nothing," he grunted. "You?"  
  
"Oh, nothing much."  
  
"I gotta go. must talk to Milli."  
  
Rachel turned around and saw Millicent Bulstrode standing impatiently behind her. "Oh, sorry," she muttered. Rachel strode over towards a tree and sat underneath it. And not long afterwards was joined by Draco.  
  
"Rachel."  
  
She looked at him oddly.  
  
"That's your name, isn't it?"  
  
She nodded.  
  
"Thanks," he uttered. "I've been trying to break up with her for the past month. Such a pest! 'Draco, look at this! Oh, isn't this just adorable, Draco?'"  
  
Rachel laughed.  
  
Draco smiled. "So.do you..er..want to go out sometime like."  
  
"I'd love to!" interrupted Rachel, grinning widely.  
  
"Okay.cool," he said before hurrying off to rejoin Crabbe and Goyle.  
  
Rachel let out a sigh of triumph as she sought to rejoin Katie, who she had spied underneath a tree near the quidditch field.  
  
"We were wondering where you were," said Katie as Rachel sat down beside her.  
  
"Yeah. Thought you might've gotten lost. After all, it's only been five years, hasn't it?" Oliver teased.  
  
Rachel forced a laugh, her mind still on Draco.  
  
The day now seemed to fly by rather quickly. And before she knew it, Rachel found herself back on the Hogwarts Express going home. 


	2. Together

Rachel, who was usually quite hyper, was rather quiet on the way home. Her mind was, yet again, on Draco. She just couldn't believe it. Finally, after all these years, her dream had come true.  
  
"Hey, Rei," said Katie, nudging her in the side. "Want a Bertie Bott? Oliver reckons that it's your favorite - fried chicken."  
  
Rachel picked it up gingerly and popped it into her mouth. Slowly, her teeth descended upon the tiny jellybean. Then, she tasted it. Yuck! It wasn't fried chicken but vomit. Rachel gagged as she turned around and spit it out the window.  
  
"Sorry," said Katie, handing her a cup of pumpkin juice. "We just couldn't resist."  
  
"Gee, thanks," Rachel replied stubbornly.  
  
There was an eerie silence for a few moments.  
  
"So," said Oliver nervously, trying to start a conversation. "Did you two see everyone you were hoping to?"  
  
Katie nodded happily. "Yup! Ginny Weasley. Lee Jordan. Terry Boot." She counted them off on her fingers as she said their names. "I would've liked to see Professor Lupin though," she added sadly.  
  
There was a murmur of agreement as the train slid to a halt.  
  
As Rachel descended the steps of the Hogwarts Express, she looked hopefully around for Draco. She saw the Weasley twins, surrounded by a crowd of people, performing a show featuring their latest creations. She saw Pansy Parkinson huddled in a corner crying. She saw Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas talking excitedly to Harry Potter. But - tear - there was no sign whatsoever of Draco.  
  
All around her, many wizards and witches were Apparating. "Perhaps, he thought I had already left," she mumbled, trying to cheer herself up. After casting one final, wistful look around her, she heaved a tremendous sigh and Apparated.  
  
"What took you so long?"  
  
"I - uh." Rachel spun around hastily to look Katie in the face. For a moment, the two just stared at each other.  
  
"Hey, you're here," Oliver said, emerging from the hallway behind them with an enormous box in his arms. "Well, don't just stand there. Pull out your wand and help me put up these decorations. I - "  
  
"But, Oliver," Rachel interrupted, "the party doesn't start for another three hours! And you know it only takes like ten minutes to set everything up - "  
  
It was now his turn to interrupt. "True. But you know that I want this to be - " He paused, glancing at Katie. Katie looked up from the vegetables she had been chopping and stared at them inquiringly. Rachel swore she could see a bead of sweat trickle down Oliver's forehead as his legs began to shake uncontrollably. Then, the silence was broken, by none other than. the doorbell. Relieved, Oliver rushed over to answer it, disappearing from sight.  
  
Rachel felt it necessary to break the eerie silence between Katie and herself. She just couldn't stand it any longer. "So, are you going to stay here tonight?" she asked, looking at Katie as she lowered her head and once again began to chop the many vegetables before her.  
  
"I might," she replied nonchalantly, not even bothering to look up. "But, you know, I do want to finish the latest article for my column so I might go down to Flourish and Botts after an hour of so."  
  
"After all this work Oliver is doing? You're just gonna leave?"  
  
Katie sighed.  
  
"Whatever," Rachel replied shortly, turning on her heel to walk out of the room.  
  
"Hey, where are you going?" said a voice in front of her. "I thought the party was here."  
  
Rachel's eyes traveled across the floor to the speaker's feet - dragon hide boots. She was almost certain of who it was - even before her eyes swept up his tall, thin body to the long red ponytail and the face of Bill Weasley.  
  
"Oh, hi, Bill," she muttered. "I was just - er - going."  
  
"Oh, well, hurry back then," he said with a smile. "Oliver says we need all the help we can get tonight since he's - "  
  
"He already told me," she interrupted.  
  
"Told you what?" came Kate's voice from behind the counter.  
  
"Er - nothing," muttered Rachel.  
  
"Honey, what's this big secret?" Katie asked as Oliver appeared from behind Bill.  
  
Now was her chance to get away. Rachel pushed past Bill and Oliver and headed for the door. Being the blonde that she was, Rachel fumbled around with the doorknob for a minute or two before remembering that Oliver had put a spell on the door. Irritably, she took out her wand and mutter, "Alohomora."  
  
She had not been outside for more than a few nanoseconds before an eagle owl swooped above her and dropped a scroll in front of her before soaring back into the clouds above. Curiously, she bent down and picked up the scroll, unraveling it as she stood back up. The message was written in a very fancy cursive, the kind you usually only ever saw on such things as expensive wedding invitations. Nevertheless, Rachel's eyes lit up as she read the note.  
  
My Dear Rachel, Sorry that I had to run off so quickly when the train docked. Meet me in front of Gringotts in five minutes. I'll be waiting for you.  
D. M.  
  
Rachel grinned as she rolled the scroll back up and placed it in her pocket, then set off for the Leaky Cauldron. In there, she was bombarded by even more former Hogwarts students who had gathered there after the reunion. She pushed herself through the crowd, however, and made it to the exit of the pub. With a flick of her wand, she tapped the necessary stones and waited for them to form the entrance to Diagon Alley.  
  
Excitedly, she set off at a run. She almost lost her balance, however, when she bumped into an old witch carrying a complete collection of Gilderoy Lockhart's books. The witch cast an irritable look at her, but Rachel didn't care; she continued running. After all, Draco was waiting for her, and she mustn't keep him waiting.  
  
The enormous white wizard bank now came into view. Hopefully, she looked around for any sign of Draco. But she didn't see him. With a sigh, she turned around and began to walk away as a tear fell down her cheek.  
  
"You're not leaving now, are you, Rachel?"  
  
She looked up, brushing away her tears with the back of her hand. She opened her eyes, looking into the eyes of the person she had just run into. They were such a pretty blue! She recognized them at once. Eyes that beautiful could only belong to one person.  
  
"Draco," she whispered as he folded his arms around her, embracing her in a hug.  
  
"Come on," he said, looking deep into her eyes, "let's go get some ice cream."  
  
"Sounds good," said Rachel, smiling.  
  
The pair strolled along the streets of Diagon Alley, neither of them speaking; perhaps neither wished to ruin the romantic moment. When they entered Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor a few minutes later, hand in hand, the owner, Mr. Fortescue, looked at the couple oddly for a few seconds before his mouth broke out into a wide grin.  
  
"Ah, g'd evenin', Mr. Malfoy," he said, winking at Rachel.  
  
"Hello, Florean. Give me the usual - two of them." He cast a glance at Rachel and smiled.  
  
"Here you go, Mr. Malfoy," he said handing them each an ice cream cone filled with chocolate ice cream and topped with whipped cream and sprinkles.  
  
"Yum, my favorite," said Rachel as she licked off the top of the whipped cream.  
  
Draco smiled at her sweetly. "Mine too. So, do you ant to sit down or."  
  
"Let's walk around."  
  
"Cool. I know this great new store. It's - "  
  
"Wethyrd's Pets for Wizards?"  
  
"Yeah, how did you know?"  
  
"I've been dying to go there!"  
  
And with that, they set off down Diagon Alley, stopping every few windows or so and admiring the contents inside. At Quality Quidditch Supplies, they stopped to gaze at the Firebolt OTF on display. Rachel read the paper that dangled from the broom's handle:  
  
~The Firebolt of the Future  
Superb Maneuverability  
Fastest Broom to Date  
Not Recommended for Beginners  
See Owner for Price and Details  
  
"Do you have one?" she asked, looking at Draco.  
  
"Yup, he replied, licking off some whipped cream and sprinkles from his cone.  
  
Rachel couldn't help but giggle.  
  
"What?" he asked, looking at her oddly.  
  
"You have." she pointed at her nose.  
  
"Oh," said Draco sheepishly, wiping the whipped cream off his nose with the back of his hand. Then, a mischievous smile swept across his face.  
  
Rachel's giggles ceased. "What are you going to do?" she asked nervously.  
  
"Oh. nothing," he replied as he dipped his fingers into his cone and flicked it at Rachel. As a jumble of whipped cream, ice cream, and sprinkles came towards her, Rachel ducked, causing it to strike a short, balding wizard squarely between the eyes.  
  
"Sorry, Mister," Rachel yelled, running farther down Diagon Alley. Draco following her, the two laughed as they paused for a moment before entering the pet store. From inside, they could hear a collection of meowing, hooting, and all sorts of other animal sounds.  
  
"Is it safe in there?" Rachel asked jokingly.  
  
Draco chuckled. "Of course it is," he replied, opening the door.  
  
A cold voice greeted them as they stepped through the door. "Who is it?"  
  
"It's me, Father," Draco replied, turning to examine a cage of mice that changed colors randomly.  
  
Rachel looked at him strangely. "Father?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
"Then, why is it called Wethyrd's? Why not - "  
  
"It's the name of my mum's father's sister's cousin's friend's brother's daughter's nephew," he replied matter-of-factly.  
  
"Oh" was all Rachel managed to say.  
  
"Look at that," said Draco, pointing at a beautiful snowy owl perched at the top of a stack of boxes.  
  
"She's adorable," Rachel said in awe.  
  
"Do you want her?" Draco asked, looking passionately into her eyes.  
  
"Really?" she said in shock. "I can really have her?"  
  
"Sure," he replied, imitating an owl's hoot to call the bird down from her perch. The bird swooped across the room, landing obediently on the counter where Lucius Malfoy stood half-concealed in shadows.  
  
"Rachel Black," Lucius stated coldly as Draco and Rachel approached the counter.  
  
"Yes, sir," Rachel replied, nodding.  
  
"Daughter of Regulus Black?"  
  
She nodded again, a wicked smile creeping across the elder Malfoy's face.  
  
"Come on, let's go," Draco whispered to her, grabbing the silver owl cage from the counter after swooping the owl inside. He grabbed Rachel by the arm and pulled her out of the store.  
  
Rachel looked into his eyes. He seemed frightened of something, but she didn't dare ask what.  
  
"Sorry, but I have to go," he said shortly, thrusting the cage into her arms.  
  
Before Rachel could open her mouth to speak, Draco had already Apparated. With a sigh, she Apparated too. 


End file.
